


The Sound of Silence

by Palatinedreams



Series: When Stars Collide [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Anxiety, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Soul Bond, Wraith (Stargate)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25093339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palatinedreams/pseuds/Palatinedreams
Summary: Companion piece toThe Things Unspoken.While John is enjoying his vacation on board Todd's Hive, Atlantis and his inhabitants are going on with their lives and daily business, trying to forge a strong bond with their new allies and getting to know them better. While Major Evan Lorne is actually looking forward to it, and eager to get to know the fascinating Commander with the dragon tattoo around his eye much better, Rodney McKay is still struggling with his fears and the experiences he's made in the past on board the hostile Hives they have encountered over the past five years.Having to work together with one of the Wraith scientists is not really helpful to overcome his fears, or maybe it is, because the Wraith Rodney is forced to work together with on a project is not like the genius has expected him to be at all...
Relationships: Evan Lorne/Wraith, Rodney McKay/Wraith
Series: When Stars Collide [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817311
Comments: 31
Kudos: 38





	1. New allies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rare_Pair_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rare_Pair_Queen/gifts).



> Dear Rare_Pair_Queen,
> 
> you wanted to see Rodney together with a Wraith, and this idea has been sitting in my mind for a few days already. As I can't resist pairing my beloved Evan with his own special Wraith as well, I hope you won't mind that he'll get one in this story as well.  
> Thank you so much for your support and all your lovely words and praise, I really hope that you'll like this story!! <33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John has left Atlantis to spend three weeks on board Todd's Hive, and the New Lanteans are left to deal with the two Hives that have been left in an orbit over the city to protect her. The Commander of the lead ship contacts Major Lorne to suggest a collaboration on a project that would be for the benefit of both of the new allies, and the young major feels drawn to him right from first sight on.  
> Rodney on the other hand is much more hesitating to work together with one of their new allies after all of his terrible experiences with Wraith in the past, and Major Lorne is doing his best to convince him to yet give it a try...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter of the companion piece to my story about John and Todd, the updates will be slower due to work and other duties, but I'll do my best not to let too much time pass until the next chapter. I hope you'll like this story about Rodney and Evan and their special Wraith. :-)

“Commander, what can I do for you?”

Major Lorne asked politely when the face of an unknown Wraith appeared on the screen after they'd been hailed by the lead ship of the two Hives which Todd had left in orbit over Atlantis to protect the city during Colonel Sheppard's absence.

The Wraith was an impressive sight, just like all Wraith usually were - at least the commanding officers and the Wraith Evan had met so far. He possessed angular and yet very handsome features, and he was of a striking alien beauty that drew Evan in and awoke the artist in him instantly. His alien counterpart wore his long silvery hair in the same way Evan knew it from pictures of ancient warriors, Vikings or so, the sides tied back high on his head to some kind of thin ponytail, but the rest of his thick mane cascaded unrestrained over his back and down to his waist like a shimmering waterfall.

The black tattoo around his left eye was painted in a difficult pattern and almost looked like a stylized dragon with a long tail and snout, its tongue shaped like a flame and sidling delicately right above his hairless brow-ridge; and Evan's fingers itched with the sudden strong urge to get his equipment and capture the beautiful face on his canvas so he could look at it for as long and as often as he liked to do without being disturbed by anyone.

The major with the dark-brown hair and the dimples frowned at his inappropriate thoughts and focused his attention back to business again, hoping that the Wraith couldn't pick up on his thoughts through their video connection.

The Commander was dressed in the same black armor-like coat as all Wraith preferred to wear, and he wore the usual stoic and strict expression on his handsome features like most of his brethren, except for Todd perhaps, who was for sure the most 'unwraithy' Wraith Lorne had ever met so far.

“My head scientist suggested that we could adjust the deep-space and long-range sensors of the city with the sensors of our Hives to make them be more efficient in detecting hostile Hives and other space ships, Commander,” the Wraith on the screen informed him about the reason for contacting Atlantis, and Evan frowned at the unusual addressing.

His counterpart apparently took his frown and irritated silence the wrong way, because he hurried to add:

“I can assure you that this is not an attempt to deceive you and sabotage your systems, Commander. We're striving for a real alliance, and connecting our systems to some extent will be necessary for our successful future collaboration.”

Lorne sent him a brief reassuring smile through the visual link, and the Wraith's eyes dropped to the dimples that were appearing in his cheeks now for a split second, just as if he was fascinated by them. He gazed back up before Evan could be sure that the Wraith had actually shown any interest in his looks, but the short moment left a soft flutter in his stomach that was hard to ignore.

“I didn't think that you were proposing this because you want to betray us in such a way. I'm just not used to being called Commander as my rank is that of a major, Commander.” he explained to hide his strange reaction to his interlocutor, and now it was the Wraith's turn to frown in irritation.

“I see. You're the highest ranking officer during Colonel Sheppard's absence, so technically you're the commanding officer of the city as long as he's not there, right? That would make you be Atlantis' commander temporarily and therefore be the correct addressing for you when we're talking together, at least in our viewpoint, Major Lorne.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Commander, but Earth military doesn't really work like that. Major Lorne will work just fine and make me feel more comfortable.”

The Commander with the dragon-like tattoo inclined his head in some kind of apology.

“It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable, Major Lorne. Please accept my apology for causing any inconvenience.”

“No problem, Commander, you didn't.” Lorne smiled at him, and to his surprise, the impressive and still rather intimidating looking Wraith smiled back at him.

“Your proposal sounds reasonable, I'll talk to Dr. McKay and call you back, Commander,” he decided, hesitate to end the call and see the Wraith disappear from the screen again. “Your scientist would need to come to Atlantis for this project, wouldn't he?”

“Yes, indeed, Major Lorne. Would that be a problem for you? He won't attack Dr. McKay or anyone else of your people, I can assure you that.”

“I wasn't worried about one of your officers or scientist trying to feed on one of our citizens, Commander. But Dr. McKay has... his own way of working, and he does not adapt so easily to new working circumstances and having co-workers he's not familiar with,” Evan tried to be as diplomatic as possible, and the Commander's pale lips twitched into another brief smile, partly amused and partly mocking as far as Evan could tell.

“So I heard, Major Lorne. My scientist is aware of that and willing to take the risk. He's been looking forward to meeting your genius head scientist in person and exchange knowledge with him for a rather long time, and Dr. McKay would be in charge of the project and find my scientist to be an eager and complying co-worker.”

“Are you sure that he knows what he's signing up for? Because I'm not so sure of that,” Lorne said, keeping his features under control only with effort. He was acutely aware of the glances thrown at him from the people working in the control room and listening to his talk with the Wraith with far too much attention and eagerness for his liking, and he could already hear McKay's reaction to this actually pretty reasonable suggestion echoing in his mind.

He exchanged a glance of shared understanding and quiet amusement with Todd's sub Commander, and he got the impression that the Wraith had a rather hard time with keeping his own expression neutral as well.

“I'll do my best to make Dr. McKay see the benefit this cooperation would have for both of us, Commander,” he promised, “please wait for my call, I'll inform you about his decision as soon as possible.”

“I would be pleased to welcome you on board my Hive as my valued guest and show you how we're working for a few hours as long as my scientist is your guest in Atlantis, Major Lorne. Only if your duties will allow you such a visit of course, as we don't want to bereave the city of her two commanding officers at the same time. But Mr. Woolsey seems to be a very capable man, and it would only be for a few hours anyway. There are no hostile Hives within sensor range at the moment, and we're well prepared for any kind of threat or emergency.”

Evan now had another good reason to convince Rodney to work together with the head scientist of the Hive, because he really wanted to get to know the Commander with the beautiful dragon tattoo better, and his visit would most likely depend on the scientist being allowed to work with their own genius.

“I would be honored, Commander,” he said, “and I would like to extent our hospitality to you and your crew in return as well. If your duties will allow you to leave your Hive for a few hours, that is, Commander.”

“This can surely be arranged, Major Lorne. I shall wait for your call, then,” the Commander accepted his invitation, inclining his head politely once more before he ended the connection, leaving a very thoughtful human major on the other end of the now dark and silent line.

“Do you really think that Dr. McKay will do that, Major?” Chuck's voice pulled him out of his musings, and Evan shrugged his shoulders.

“We'll know that pretty soon, Chuck. If someone's asking – I'm in Dr. McKay's lab. He's not been in a really good mood lately, his breakup with Dr. Keller and Colonel Sheppard's three-weeks' 'vacations' on board a Hive have put him on edge even more than he usually is, so you should perhaps send a rescue team after me if I'm not back in an hour or so,” the young major joked weakly, and Chuck offered him a sympathetic look.

“I'll be crossing my fingers, Major. Maybe this is exactly the kind of distraction Rodney needs to find back to his usual productive and most of all talkative self again. He's been far too quiet lately, that's never a good sign when it comes to him.”

“Let's hope so,” Evan gave back with a nod, making his way to the transporter at last. He could still see the handsome features of the Wraith clearly before his mind's eye, his wish to paint them still so strong that he had to gather all of his self-control in order not to abandon his duties just like that and rush to his quarters to get his brushes and start painting the alien male face of the Wraith he couldn't stop thinking of, no matter how hard he tried.

“Colonel Sheppard is not the only one here with a strange liking for alien space-vampires,” he murmured to himself, and the thought of an alliance with Todd's Wraith was suddenly much more appealing to him than it had been just a few hours ago.

*~*~*

“You're kidding me, right?”

Rodney didn't even bother to look up from his work, and he gave his voice a snarling tone, hoping that it would end this discussion before it had even really begun and keep Lorne from bothering him any further.

“No, I'm not, Dr. McKay. The Commander's request is actually a reasonable one, and it would also be a good start for our alliance and future collaboration, don't you think so?”

“No, I don't,” Rodney snapped back, pretending to be caught up in the data on the screen, even though the letters started to swim and blur before his eyes all of a sudden. “It's actually a totally ridiculous idea, only meant to deceive and betray us and gain control over Atlantis. We've had this before, we don't need another one of this awful experiences.”

“We're talking about Todd's Wraith here. I don't think that they're trying to betray us, McKay. You can't avoid working together with them forever, so why not starting now?”

“When Sheppard is not here to save our asses? Have you gone insane, Major?” Rodney finally did look up from his computer to stare at Sheppard's XO reproachfully.

Lorne stared back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, and here I'd thought that it had always been you saving our asses from the Wraith,” he said nonchalantly. “I must have been wrong here. I apologize for my mistake, doctor. If you really think that the Wraith could betray us so easily without you knowing it instantly and being able to stop them with your genius like you've done so many times in the past, then I'll inform the Commander about your worries and tell him that we'll have to wait for Colonel Sheppard's return.”

Rodney felt himself blushing, and he scowled angrily at the major.

“I know what you're doing here, Major!” he snarled, “of course I would know it if this 'head scientist' tried to mess with our systems and betray us. I'm a genius, remember?”

Lorne looked far too innocently and smugly for Rodney's liking when he gave back with a winning smile that showed his dimples at their very best:

“Oh, I wasn't the one who'd forgotten that, Dr. McKay. I just thought that you could do with a small reminder of your skills and outstanding capabilities.”

“You're manipulating me!” Rodney complained, but there wasn't much emphasis behind his words. He knew it when he'd lost, even though he hated the thought of having to work with one of this green-skinned and yellow-eyed snakes. He'd never gotten over his mortal fear when it came to the Wraith after all he'd been through over the past five years since he'd joined the Atlantis expedition, and Todd was actually the only Wraith he could tolerate near him and work together with without feeling like choking and wanting to scream with fear the entire time.

“The Commander told me that his scientist admires your work pretty much, and that he wanted to get a chance to meet you and work with you for a rather long time.” Lorne said in the rather obvious attempt to get at him by flattering him and stroking his ego. Rodney had to admit that it was working pretty damn well, even though he was still freezing inwardly at the mere thought of having one of those scary vampires in his lab and within arm's length - within feeding range...

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Major. I'm not in the mood to play the babysitter for one of these greenish snakes,” he retorted in the futile attempt to prolong the inevitable, frowning at Lorne's next words, which were actually more some kind of loud thinking judging by the expression on the major's face.

“Dragon. It looks more like a dragon.”

“Pardon me?” Rodney asked, and he raised one of his eyebrows when he saw Lorne blushing ever so slightly.

“The tattoo of the Commander. It looks more like a dragon than a snake,” he murmured, and Rodney's other eyebrow now traveled upwards as well, to meet its companion in the middle of his forehead.

“I see,” he deadpanned, and Lorne's blush darkened.

“Forget what I've just said,” he hurried to make his lapse forget. “Can I tell the Commander then that he'll have our full cooperation on that project?”

Rodney resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and he knew that he would regret his next words instantly, but the thought of one of these admittedly highly talented and intelligent beings admiring him so much was something he simply couldn't resist. Wraith possessed a photographic memory and lots of amazing skills, and that there was at least one of them who admired him really got at him.

“If you must,” he sighed, hoping that he didn't sound too eager and complying, and he could feel the bad mood he'd been in for weeks fade a little bit when Lorne offered him another genuine dimpled smile that made his eyes shine in a deep blue color.

“Thank you, Rodney. I'll inform the Commander then that his scientist is allowed to come to Atlantis to work with you.”

“Just do it if it makes you happy,” Rodney grumbled, “but I'll be the one in charge – and I'll kick him out of my lab the second he'll so much as only think of making any trouble, understood? Plus, he'll only get limited access to our systems, while they'll grant us full access to theirs. I won't let another Hive mess with us and sabotage our defenses again.”

“They won't try to do that, but I'll tell them your conditions, Rodney,” Lorne promised, and Rodney shook his head about so much credulity.

“I can't believe that you're willing to believe their words just like that, Major,” he said, and Lorne shrugged his shoulders.

“I normally wouldn't. But Todd is their Chief Commander, and Todd has proven himself to be a trustworthy ally on more than just one occasion. One of us has to make the first step and start to show trust to overcome the past. We won't gain anything if we keep being so hostile and sensing betrayal behind every corner, Rodney. We need the Wraith if we want to stay here on the long run, but they need us just as much, and at least some of them seem to have realized that, so this is our chance to prove to them that we're willing to give them another chance for a real alliance.”

Rodney rubbed his forehead, and he knew that Lorne had a point here, but he still remembered his times in Wraith prison cells and even the one time he'd been trapped in one of these terrible cocoons far to vividly to overcome his fears just like that.

“I really hope that you're not making a grave mistake here, Major,” he said, and Lorne grimaced and shrugged his shoulders for another time.

“I'm actually hoping for the same, but Mr. Woolsey gave his okay, and adjusting our sensors so we can detect hostile Hives much sooner than before sounds like a good plan, so I'm willing to take the risk.”

Rodney watched him leave his lab, and the sudden silence after their discussion was almost deafening. It wouldn't last for long though, because he would soon have one of these creepy greenish companions working together with him, talking in this weird multi-toned voice and giving him the nightmares of his life until their 'collaboration' would be finished.

The blue-eyed scientist sighed and turned back to his computer again, the ominous silence in his lab only interrupted by the quiet beeping and humming of his computers, but this time he couldn't draw comfort out of the familiar sounds like he'd always been able to do.

Rodney wasn't made for silence, he'd never been, from his early childhood on.

He'd always tried to fill it with something, anything, no matter whether it was pleasant sounds to listen to - or actually loud and annoying noise that would make his ears hurt sooner rather than later. At first he'd filled the so much hated silence with the music he'd once loved to play so much, later then with the sounds and noises of his computers and other technical devices he got his hands on. When that hadn't been working any longer, he'd finally started to talk to himself, a habit that had become his second nature over the years. Rodney knew that his soliloquies were driving his teammates crazy at times, but they made him feel safe, and he could actually focus much better on the problems he was supposed to solve when he could chase the dreadful silence away that always threatened to pull him into its black void when he became aware of it - just like he did now.

“There's nothing you have to worry about, Rodney. You'll be fine, and John will come back soon, just don't think about that. Focus on your work and do what you're best at, and everything will be fine,” he murmured to himself, repeating those words like a mantra until his breathing eventually calmed down again and the silence stopped making his ears ring so painfully.

Maybe this project would actually turn out to be a good thing and distract him from his heartache. Maybe this scientist was more talkative than his spooky colleagues and not scaring the hell out of him with this terrible silent staring Wraith had mastered so perfectly. Hope was the last thing to die after all, and Rodney was really not the man to give up hope that easily, no matter how hard keeping up hope seemed to be.

*~*~*

Evan had hurried to go back to the control room and hail the lead Hive to inform the Commander about Rodney's decision, and the impressive Wraith had looked content and pleased that his scientist was allowed to come to Atlantis the next day and start working on their first project together with their new human allies.

He'd repeated his invitation to show Evan his Hive, and the young major had accepted it after getting Richard Woolsey's permission.

“It would be a good thing to show them our trust in this alliance this way and follow their invitation to spend time on board their Hive for as long as one of them is in Atlantis. This way we'll be both sure that nothing will happen to either of us.”

“You mean like some kind of 'hostage-exchange'?” Evan had wanted to know, and Richard had nodded his head.

“Yes, perhaps. Even the old Romans did that, and it worked rather well most of the time, well except for their decision to take Arminius as one of their hostages and integrate him in their legions,” the civilian leader of Atlantis had stated with a small frown.

“Hmm,” Evan had agreed vaguely, the mentioning of the old Romans reminding him of something he'd been thinking about ever since his first talk with the impressive Commander.

“Do you happen to know the Latin word for 'dragon', Mr. Woolsey? Or the Greek one?” he'd asked, hoping that Woolsey wouldn't ask him why he had this sudden interest in these two old languages all of a sudden.

“I happen to know both words,” Richard had given back, “they're actually quite similar, and our word 'dragon' is closely related to them. The Latin word for dragon is 'draco', the Greek one is 'drákon'. Why do you want to know that, Major?”

“Oh, for no particular reason. I've just been thinking about it after... seeing the picture of a dragon,” he'd murmured, and Woolsey had gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment but luckily not poked him any further about his sudden and unexpected wish to learn more about Latin and Greek words.

Now he was in his quarters and sitting on his bed, armed with his favorite pencil and a notepad to draw the alien features and the tattoo of the fascinating Commander from the pictures in his memory. It was already dark outside, and Evan could see the stars blinking in the black sky through his balcony door.

One of these blinking stars was the Commander's Hive circling over Atlantis to protect the city, and tomorrow, he would visit it and finally meet the remarkable Wraith personally.

Evan smiled into the darkness, and the silence surrounding him was like a soft blanket, comforting and promising, filled with anticipation of a peaceful future with their new allies, just like he'd been secretly dreaming of for so long. Evan had always loved the quiet and silent hours of the night, when he could let his mind wander and paint without any distractions. He never minded getting the night shifts, when everything was so quiet and peaceful, and one thing he appreciated about their new allies was that Wraith never seemed to feel the need to fill silence with meaningless chatter.

Sometimes he even wondered how it would be like to be a telepath himself, not needing spoken words to express his feelings, and he almost regretted it that he didn't have this gift and could never experience what Wraith called their Hive-mind. He always sought quiet and solitude when he was recovering from an injury or sickness, or after a straining off-world mission when everything had gone wrong again and the loud noises from shooting guns were still torturing his ears and his mind, and he thought that his love for quiet and silence was something that connected him with Wraith in some way.

Maybe his ability to enjoy and appreciate silence was something that would help him with coming closer to the fascinating Wraith Commander he couldn't get out of his head again.

Atlantis was back where she belonged, back home in Pegasus, and Evan was finally back home again as well. He'd found the peace and quiet in Atlantis he'd never been able to find on Earth, and he looked down at the noble alien features he'd drawn, humming a soft and quiet melody that echoed cheerfully in the otherwise silent room.

Tomorrow would be a new bright and sunny day, a day that offered the chance to get to know their new allies a little bit better and maybe visit the Commander's Hive, a place that promised the silence he valued so much, and Evan was very much looking forward to it.


	2. A new co-worker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rodney meets his new green-skinned colleague and co-worker for their first collaboration, and the Wraith is not like any other Wraith he has met so far...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy that you liked the first chapter of this story so much, and I apologize in advantage for torturing Rodney in this chapter so much, but I must admit that it was pretty much fun writing it.
> 
> I have clear images of Evan's Commander and Rodney's scientist in mind, based on two Wraith of the original series, and their names were quite clear for me right from the start. Rodney will give 'his' Wraith a name at the end of this chapter, and it's actually for not so nice reasons that he's choosing this name. It was never mentioned in the series which composers Rodney's favorites were, or which he didn't like so much, so I came up with my own backstory for his failed career as a musician, which will be explained and an important part of this story later on, but a foretaste of it will be the topic of the last part of this chapter. :-)

Rodney refused to acknowledge his new colleague more than he absolutely had to do, going straight to his lab after breakfast instead of accompanying Major Lorne to the pier where the damn Wraith's Dart was supposed to land within the next hour.

He began talking to himself the minute he started his computers, yelling at each of his poor human colleagues and co-workers who were so brave – or so stupid – to stick their heads through the small door slit to ask him something, and it didn't take more than half an hour until he was finally left alone for good and even the last one of the other scientists had realized that talking to Dr. McKay was a truly bad idea on this sunny morning.

The next time the door to his lab opened again, it was Major Lorne striding far too confidentially into the lion's den with two of his Marines in tow – and with the one person that was responsible for Rodney's terrible mood without ever having met him beforehand.

Lorne carried a cheerful smile plastered all over his face, which was showing off his dimples quite nicely, and Rodney really wanted to wipe it off the other man's face pretty badly. The handsome major even dared not to look the least troubled or as though he was fearing that the green creature following in his wake would try to feed on him at the next best opportunity. Instead, his dimples became even more visible when his smile widened so much that Rodney couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't painful for Lorne to have his lips stretched like that.

“Dr. McKay, we were missing your 'sparkling' personality on the pier!” Lorne stated, being all smiles and graces, and Rodney's cheeks blushed furiously at the sparks that were dancing in those deep-blue orbs, icy-blue sparks that spoke quite a different language than Lorne's smile did. They were equally mocking as they were menacing at Rodney's obvious lack of manners and serious act of affront towards their new allies, and the rest of Rodney's face lost even the last shreds of its former rosy color with the dangerous creature in such close and dangerous proximity, while his cheeks were burning red due to the silent threat that was sparkling in the major's hard glance and which told him that he'd better remember his manners sooner rather than later again.

Unfortunately, Meredith Rodney McKay had never been a good actor on the rickety stage of diplomacy and fine courtesy, and he wouldn't change for anybody, not even for Sheppard, and surely not for the colonel's XO - or any damn Wraith that existed in this universe.

“I was busied with work, as you can see,” he therefore just pressed out through gritted teeth, stubbornly keeping his attention on the screen in front of him and pretending to be totally caught up in the important and complex data visible on it.

Lorne made a vague noise deep in his throat and leaned in to take a look at what was apparently fascinating the blue-eyed genius so much that he hadn't been able to come to the pier and welcome his future colleague like it would have been appropriate.

“A recipe for orange cake,” the handsome major read out loud, darting a meaning-full sidelong glance at Rodney with pursed lips. “I can see why this would keep you from welcoming our guest properly.” Lorne didn't even try to be polite and keep the sarcasm out of his voice, and Rodney's eyes went wide when he realized what had happened. He remembered vaguely having snapped something not really nice at Zelenka about fifteen minutes ago or so, and the Czech had paid him back for his insulting words in his own special way – and in the worst moment possible.

“Zelenka, I swear, I will...” he ground out, snapping his mouth shut again when he caught sight of Lorne's narrowed eyes and how the look on the major's usually boyishly handsome face became as icy-cold as the sparks in his eyes had already been.

Sometimes Rodney tended to forget that the handsome and laid-back, normally always friendly and kind major was a well-trained and experienced soldier and fierce fighter if he had to be, a merciless and determined superior to his Marines who'd do anything that was necessary to protect his people and his beloved city. It was for a reason that he was Sheppard's XO for more than three years by now, and so far he'd executed his job pretty damn well on each and every occasion and proven himself to be a worthy second-in-command to the outstanding hazel-eyed colonel.

“Didn't know that it's so easy to hack your computer when you're standing right in front of it, McKay. I'll have to keep that in mind, just in case. But maybe our special guest can help you with securing it from such attacks. Our allies are known to be very skilled and clever scientists in various subjects, so it might be to your benefit if he'd lend you a helping hand here, what do you think?” Lorne now deadpanned, his voice a mixture of cheerfulness and another clear warning that Rodney would better not forget his manners again and cooperate with their new allies from now on.

The muffled sounds coming from Lorne's two Marines made the blush in Rodney's cheeks increase to an astonishing deep purple and compete colorfully with the snow-white of the rest of his face; and the Wraith – who'd listened silently and with his head tilted sidewards in this weird 'wraithy' way so far – stepped closer now, taking a curious look at the computer screen as well.

“Good morning, Dr. McKay, I'm more than pleased to finally make your acquaintance,” he said in the clear attempt to appear less dangerous and more charming than Wraith usually did. Which was clearly in vain and would never work in Rodney's opinion, an opinion that was admittedly pretty biased because of his former experiences with any Wraith in general and special; and for him, greenish skin, white hair and hissing voices combined with inhuman strength and those terrible and lethal eating habits could never be anything else other than dangerous, eerie and totally deterring.

“Is orange cake your favorite cake, then, Dr. McKay?” his greenish future co-worker now continued to 'charm' his way into Rodney's heart, and the human genius actually felt grim satisfaction when the Wraith took a startled step backwards at the furious expression and dark scowl on his new colleague's face.

“Not, it is not! Plus, I can't say that I am pleased to meet you in return, because I am not and it would be a blatant lie! If you really must work with me, you'll better stop asking nosy questions and annoying me, Wraith!” Rodney growled, amazed about himself from where he'd taken the courage to talk to one of these scary space vampires like that.

“McKay!” Lorne warned him with a scowl and a growl of his own, but Rodney spun around on his heels to glare at the major now as well, tired of being mocked at and ridiculed and being chided and told to be nice and play along when all he wanted was to be left alone so he could lick his wounds and work in peace and quiet.

“No, Major, I won't let you forbid me to speak! _My_ lab, _my_ condition, _my_ rules, remember?! I never agreed to making small talk to a Wraith or feign that I'm happy to have one standing right behind my back, sticking their nose in my business and breathing on my neck. I agreed to working on adjusting our sensors together, nothing more, nothing less. The sooner we'll get started, the sooner we'll be done with that, so I can have my lab for myself again. So please take your men with you and leave us alone, because I really have more important work to do other than that!”

Lorne frowned, but he was sensitive and clever enough not to provoke and upset Rodney even further, he only gifted the Wraith with an apologetic glance and made a gesture with his hand, pointing at his Marines.

“Are you sure that you don't want them to stay to protect you?” he wanted to know, his voice not mocking but concerned now, and Rodney grimly nodded, even though the prospect of being alone with a Wraith for hours, trapped in his rather small lab, was scaring the hell out of him.

“Yes, I am. I can't work like that.”

“You do not need to fear that any harm shall come to Dr. McKay from my side, Major Lorne,” the Wraith said, and Rodney rolled his eyes at that.

“Yeah, as if I was going to believe you that. You'll decide otherwise the minute you begin to feel a little hungry. I'm just hoping that this won't happen within the next couple of hours until we'll be finished with our work here.”

“I promised not to feed on you, and I would never do that, Dr. McKay.” The damn Wraith actually sounded indignant and even hurt.

Major Lorne shot Rodney an angry look before he turned to the immortal being to gift him with one of his beautiful dimpled smiles and another regretful look out of his blue eyes.

“I believe you, and I'm sorry for Dr. McKay's behavior,” he said, but the Wraith shook his head.

“There's no need for that, Major Lorne. I was told that Dr. McKay's encounters with my race have been terrible ones for him, and that he has no reason to trust me or any of my brethren until we've proven to him that we can be trusted. Trust has to be earned, and I will do my best to prove myself worthy of his trust. I'm a great admirer of his work, and I shall hope that he'll come to find our collaboration to be a source of inspiration for his genius mind one day.”

Rodney was actually taken aback at that, and he sighed but relaxed his posture a little bit

“Don't think that this will ever happen, but I'm actually willing to believe you that you won't try to kill me before we're finished here. So please go now, Major, and take your men with you, I really want to get this over with and done as quickly as possible, and before our 'guest' starts to feel hungry.”

“As you wish, Doctor.” Lorne made his way to the door, waving at his Marines to follow him, and before Rodney had steeled himself for the inevitable, he found himself alone in his lab with a strange Wraith standing far too close for his peace of mind and looking at him with curious yellow-golden eyes.

*~*~*

For a few minutes the two so different scientists just kept staring at each other, and the sudden silence in his lab after his banter with Lorne was ringing shrilly and loudly in Rodney's ears and giving him a bad headache. Not even the quiet noises of his computers could ease the pain and lessen the discomfort and anxiety he was always experiencing when he was surrounded by such a thorough and all-consuming silence, and Rodney drew in a shaky breath and swallowed hard to keep the babbling inside that wanted to flee his throat and make the terrifying silence go away again.

He wouldn't make a fool of himself and start with his usual soliloquies right in front of his living nightmare, no way.

The Wraith's nostrils flared ever so slightly, and his sensor pits did the same, reminding Rodney of a predator that was taking in the scent of his prey. Which the Wraith was probably doing, considering how heightened all of his senses were compared to human senses, because he took another step back and stated, his voice actually sounding apologetically:

“Please, you do not need to fear me, Dr. McKay. Even if we were not allies, I would still not feed on you. I was serious when I told you that I am a great admirer of your genius and your work. I would not bereave myself of the chance to learn how your astonishing human mind is working.”

His words were surely meant as a compliment and an offer for a truce, but Rodney just snorted.

“Really? I cannot say that I feel safer now. Wraith have a photographic memory and are quick learners, so your curiosity about this special specimen of your food source – me – will soon be satisfied, and then you might change your mind about the 'not-feeding' pretty quickly.”

“I gave you my word, and I will not break it, Dr. McKay.” The Wraith inclined his head and tried what was probably supposed to be a smile, but Rodney didn't return it.

“Wraith and their false promises,” he murmured, thinking back of their first attempt at an alliance with this race and how it had all gone so terribly wrong.

“Has our Chief Commander ever broken his word and the promises he'd given you, Dr. McKay?” the green scientist asked, and Rodney had to admit that his new colleague did have a point here, even though he did that only begrudgingly.

“No, he hasn't. But he's not there, and he's not you, is he?”

The Wraith looked at him, and Rodney thought that his co-worker was at least one of the more pretty and handsome space-vampires, and not as scary and ugly to look at as most of the Wraith he'd had the displeasure to meet so far actually were.

His greenish skin was shimmering as if the Wraith had rubbed some oil into it, and he possessed surprisingly full lips, the upper lip shaped like an almost perfect heart. They looked smooth and soft, and the translucent razor-sharp teeth were thankfully hardly visible between his pale lips, something Rodney was deeply grateful for. The Wraith's nose was rather long, but small and delicate, his cheekbones prominent and his eyes deep-set in their sockets. He didn't wear a goatee like most other Wraith seemed to take them as a sign of their virility or rank, and it made him look rather young for a Wraith. His chin not covered by such a beard was perfectly shaped, not too thick and not too thin but nicely rounded. The dark veins under his skin were visible and boosted the alienness of his looks, but to Rodney, he looked strangely appealing, and the blue-eyed scientist frowned inwardly about the disturbing trail of his thoughts.

The Wraith's hair-less brow-ridges were sharp and matched nicely with the prominent cheekbones, and his long silvery hair, tied back to surround his face like some kind of halo and accentuate his high forehead, made him look more like an ancient warrior than a scientist. He didn't have a tattoo, and Rodney caught himself musing about what kind of tattoo would actually be fitting for this special Wraith. He shook his head, angry at himself, and the Wraith mirrored his expression and frowned as well, apparently trying to figure out what he was thinking about his new and unwanted colleague.

“Are you trying to read my mind, Wraith?” Rodney snarled, and his counterpart shook his head.

“No, Dr. McKay. That would be incredibly impolite.”

“As if any possible impoliteness would keep you from doing that if it was to your advantage.” Rodney wouldn't give the Wraith credit for anything as long as he hadn't proven his trustworthiness to him – which would never really happen anyway. He'd never come to trust a Wraith after all he'd been through, just never.

“I understand that it's hard for you to trust and believe me, Dr. McKay, but I can assure you that I have no intention to hurt you in any way. Apart from that, only queens and trained high-ranking officers with strong mental skills can intrude into the mind of another being – either Wraith or human – so I couldn't do that, even if I wanted to. Which I don't, as I respect your privacy far too much for merely thinking of such a terrible intrusion. Please let me assure you that I can imagine how you're feeling when you're looking at me, and how hard it must be for you to work together with someone you've considered your enemy for so many years, but I really want to...”

“NO! STOP THAT!” Rodney heard himself yelling, much to his own surprise, interrupting the Wraith's attempt to tell him that he knew how Rodney was feeling.

“Don't you ever dare telling me again that you know how I'm feeling, because you sure as hell don't have a bloody clue about my feelings! You're _Wraith,_ you'll never know how it feels to be trapped in one of your prison cells or one of your cocoons! You'll never know how it feels like when one of you Wraith is standing before your cell or cocoon and telling you that you'll be their next meal, so never tell me again that you know how it's like when you're told that you're so inferior and that you're just food and actually have no right to live at all!

You'll never know how it feels like to be looked at by one of your arrogant and oh-so superior brothers as if you were just some kind of crawling insect before their feet! You don't know at all how it feels like to be dragged through the corridors of your spooky and so terribly quiet Hives to the next cocoon to find yourself trapped there, immobile and feeling like choking the very next second! Never ever tell me again that you can imagine how I'm feeling, because you absolutely don't, _Wraith_!!!”

Rodney went silent, his throat sore from his yelling, and the following sudden silence made him feel dizzy and sick. He struggled to keep his equilibrium, and he was sure that the Wraith would slam his feeding hand into his chest the very next second to silence the impudent inferior human who'd dared talking to him like that.

His greenish co-worker stared at him with a surprised and almost dumbfounded expression about his furious outburst, and his sensor pits flared again when the sharp stench of Rodney's fear and anger filled his nose.

“You are right, Dr. McKay. I don't know how you're feeling, and I want to apologize for my impudence and my lack of sensitivity. Please accept my sincerest apologies for having upset you so much.” the scientist said at last, and his voice sounded calm and sincere, almost as if he actually meant what he'd said.

It wasn't the reaction Rodney had expected to come at all, and it confused him more than it calmed him down. This special Wraith was so different from any other Wraith he'd ever dealt with, and Rodney hated to feel so confused and uncertain as he did now. He let out a deep sigh, rubbing his forehead in an unconscious gesture to ease the pain throbbing behind his temples.

“Okay, whatever,” he murmured, not willing to forgive his greenish companion for what his brethren had done to him that easily – and to so many others of Rodney's friends and colleagues.

“Just let's get this over with, so you can leave again.” He waved at the Wraith to come closer, his fingers flying over the keyboard of his laptop with long-time practice. The other male watched him typing without moving or speaking, and Rodney felt another bout of anxiety approaching him. Maybe he should talk to a therapist about his problems with silence, as they were growing worse and affected his ability to work and concentrate more and more, especially since John had left Atlantis to spend three weeks with Todd and so far away from his friends.

“I'll need the configuration parameters of your sensors to adjust ours with them. Did you bring any equipment with you?” He murmured to distract himself from his fear and the thought of Sheppard and what the colonel was doing at the moment, and the Wraith made a sound of agreement and nodded his head.

“Of course, Dr. McKay.” The scientist pulled a small device out of the pocket of his black coat and glided closer with the natural elegance each Wraith seemed to possess, his faint musky scent penetrating Rodney's nose when they were standing side by side before Rodney's working console.

Aligning their sensors couldn't be so difficult and take up much time, Rodney thought as they started to work, they should be done with that in a couple of hours, and then he would be alone again and without all of his senses being on high alert like they were now.

He could feel the sidelong glances his green co-worker shot at him from time to time, but Rodney ignored them as best as he could, and he also rigorously ignored the strange flutter in his stomach and the tiny voice in his head that whispered that there might be much more about Wraith than he'd ever wanted to know about them.

*~*~*

Of course it wasn't as easy and quickly to be done like Rodney had hoped that it would be.

Atlantis was a sentient city with her own mind, and she'd apparently put said mind to undoing any achievement Rodney tried to accomplish right away again, just like a defiant child that would destroy the tall tower again and again which her father tried to build for her with colored toy blocks.

The blue-eyed scientist wanted to scream in frustration, and the unnerving silence of his Wraith colleague was making everything just worse.

The alien male was polite and ridiculously obedient – behaving totally different from any other of his arrogant and overbearing brothers Rodney had been forced to work with beforehand – and he wasn't Todd either, whose presence and way of working he'd actually come to appreciate over the years, and whom Rodney could endure having near him without freaking out the whole time.

It was obvious that the truly uncommon Wraith wanted to please Rodney at all costs – while Rodney himself opposite to the poor scientist's best intentions didn't want to be pleased by any Wraith at all – and his head was pounding with the mother of all headaches after a few hours of fruitless working and making him even much more thin-skinned than he usually was anway.

The human genius with seven PhDs closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, painfully aware of the damn Wraith's silent staring.

“Computer, play music,” he withdrew to his last resort before he'd actually start shouting and screaming his throat sore, hoping that his voice command would work, even though his voice sounded so strained and rough because of his terrible headache that it was probably hardly recognizable for the computer.

The odds were stacked against him on this horrible day though, and Atlantis was not only defiant and uncooperative today, but she also seemed to have a pretty sick sense of humor, because the piece of music of all musical pieces she could have chosen to play from the musical database Rodney had fed her with years ago was _Serenade No. 13_ from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the composer Rodney disliked with a heartfelt passion.

The first tunes of the serenade echoed in his lab before he could choose anything else, and Rodney groaned and buried his face in his hands, wishing for this day to end more than he'd wished for anything else ever since he'd been trapped in the Wraith cocoon years ago.

“This sounds lovely, Dr. McKay. What is it?”

The Wraith's multi-toned voice so close to his hurting left ear made Rodney snap his head back up so fast again that his vertebra were cracking loudly, and another pained groan escaped his lips.

“What?!” he stammered, “what the hell?!”

“The composition you chose, it's quite lovely to listen to,” the poor creature said, unaware of his severe lapse and totally oblivious to the storm that was starting to loom right over his head. The Wraith tilted his head in obvious exaltation, his eyes almost closed and features contorted with concentration not to miss any single note of Rodney's most hated composition ever.

“Really?” the blue-eyed genius countered when he'd finally found back his own voice again. “I'd actually thought that Wraith would appreciate a composer like Beethoven much more than Mozart, as eerie, gloomy and scary as you and your Hives all are. But thinking about it further, it's actually quite fitting that you'd like the one composer I can't stand at all.”

The Wraith gazed questioningly at him, apparently unable to follow his tracks of thoughts and truly comprehend what he was saying, and Rodney's lips twitched into a rather evil grin when a sudden idea of how he could take revenge on his unwelcome guest and part-time colleague struck his mind.

“It's a good thing though that we have at least one thing in common - and that Wraith do appreciate the fine art of music,” he hurried to speak up again before the Wraith could ask him about his dislike of Mozart's music any further. He would even endure _Serenade No. 13_ and let it play on endless loop if it would help him getting away with his little revenge and lull his counterpart into happy ignorance of what Rodney was about to do.

“You do know that we poor head-blind humans need to use names to address each other, and as we'll be working together for a while as this sensor-aligning-thing is not really working out as planned, would you mind me choosing a name for you? It would make things much easier for me – as calling you 'you', 'Wraith' or 'scientist' all of the time is getting on my nerves and pretty confusing for me...”

Rodney schooled his features into what he hoped to look like a picture of innocent anticipation and politeness, and he held his breath as he waited for the Wraith's answer. He'd waited so long to be allowed and choose a name for one of their green allies, and now he finally had the chance to do that without Sheppard being able to interfere this time. Sheppard had never let him do that and always been the one naming their captives and temporary guests or opponents, and Rodney was still angry that Sheppard had also named the Jumpers and that his own suggestions had always been turned down right away and with much more vigor than necessary.

But this here was 'his' Wraith, and if he got a name, than Rodney would be the one choosing it for him. He suppressed the brief stinging of a bad conscience when he saw joy and something akin to eagerness flickering over the delicate alien features of his counterpart, and he had to admit that he was taken by surprise that the other male actually seemed to be happy and eager to get a name in the first place.

“What kind of name for me do you have in mind?” the scientist asked, cocking his head to the other side, and Rodney swallowed his bad conscience down vigorously and leaned back against the console in what he hoped to look like a nonchalant posture.

“ _Amadeus_. As you appreciate Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music so much, Amadeus would be a wonderful name for you. It's unique and a good old name from Earth, so nothing offending and actually rather fitting for an immortal and powerful being like you are.”

Rodney held his breath again after his little speech, and he even forgot his bad headache for a moment as he waited for the Wraith's decision whether or not he wanted to accept the name Rodney had chosen to be perfect for him.

The alien scientist regarded him quietly for a moment or two, his face now lacking any emotion and unreadable, and Rodney got the impression that he was seeing right through him and his true intentions to give him the name 'Amadeus'. The last tunes of _Serenade No. 13_ faded, and another composition started to play, this time one of Rodney's favorites, namely Beethoven's _Moonlight Sonata._ Rodney felt close to tears all of a sudden, and his bad conscience came back with full force when the Wraith eventually made up his mind and said:

“I'd be very pleased to accept the name you've chosen for me, Dr. McKay. From today on I will answer to 'Amadeus', and I'll wear my name with pride.”


	3. Night Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan has taken another night shift, and when the impressive Commander is hailing him again, he agrees to meet him in Atlantis to talk about the suddenly rather strange behavior of his head scientist that must have been caused by something McKay said or did.  
> Their late night talk turns out to be quite different from what Evan had expected to come though...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After returning from our holiday and a week without internet I'm back with this story again. This chapter turned out to become totally different from what I'd actually planned, and I tried to rewrite it, but Evan was truly insistent. I'm honestly not sure about it, I hope you'll like it nonetheless. <33

Evan had volunteered for another night shift in the control room, and the quiet and darkness was a welcome change after all the noisy rush and fuss that had followed Colonel Sheppard's departure, and which was still filling Atlantis' long corridors during the days.

He even didn't mind that he had to stay up for twenty-four hours because of the night shift. Evan had gotten used to the lack of a daily routine with fixed sleeping hours at night a long time ago; and he was trained to fall asleep within a few minutes regardless of the time of day or the circumstances. Whether he was lying safely in his own comfortable bed or sitting on a hard ground in a prison cell and waiting to be interrogated, tortured or even killed, this made no difference for him anymore when it came to the necessity of getting enough rest to remain being capable of performing his duties. His admired CO and role model John Sheppard trusted him with Atlantis' safety during his absence, and this was enough for him to feel wide awake and stay focused on his important task, no matter how long he'd already been up on his feet.

The young major with the blue eyes and the beautiful dimples loved serving in Atlantis as Sheppard's XO, and the City of the Ancients had become his home shortly after his first arrival already, but sometimes he missed his second profession next to his life as a soldier, as he only rarely got the opportunity to work as a geologist during his off-world missions.

The night shifts at least allowed him to read the reports of his fellow colleagues and the latest publications of his favorite geology magazines, and this was what he was doing when Chuck's console started to beep with an incoming message, audio and video.

The command Hive is hailing us, Sir,” Chuck said, looking questioningly at his superior. It must be something important if the impressive Commander whom Todd had left in orbit over Atlantis to grant their safety wanted to talk to him at this time of the day – or better night - and Evan felt a soft flutter in his stomach at the prospect of talking to the fascinating alien male again.

“On screen, Chuck,” he ordered, sitting up a little bit straighter in his chair instinctively, his magazine already lying abandoned and forgotten on his desk before him.

The screen flared to life, and the angular and yet very handsome features of Todd's sub Commander became visible on it. The tall Wraith looked as striking and fascinating as Evan remembered him to be, and a small frown started to crease his forehead when the other male noticed the opened magazine on the desk with his superior eyesight right away and realized that he'd interrupted his human counterpart in his reading.

“I apologize for the disturbance, Major Lorne,” his multi-toned voice sounded through the speaker, a little bit distorted, but still beautiful to listen to. “I didn't mean to interrupt.”

“There's no need to apologize, Commander. You wouldn't have called us if it wasn't important, and you didn't interrupt anything that couldn't wait for a while longer. What can I do for you?” Evan said with a smile to encourage the Wraith Commander to tell him the reason for his late call, and the fascinating alien who was occupying his thoughts far too much smiled back briefly, but he hesitated for a split second before he spoke up again.

“Actually, I was hoping that you could tell me more about what happened between my head scientist and Dr. McKay. He's been behaving strangely since he came back on board a couple of hour ago.”

Evan exchanged a quick glance with Chuck before looking back at the screen again. McKay had withdrawn early after his new Wraith colleague had left Atlantis to spend the night on board his own Hive, and the blue-eyed genius had refused to enlighten Evan about how his day had been and which progress they had made regarding the alignment of their own sensors to those of the Hive, mumbling something about being too tired to think straight any longer. Evan had known better than to push him, but now he began to wish that he would have been more persistent.

“What do you mean with 'behaving strangely', Commander?” he asked cautiously, and he could feel Chuck's eyes burning a hole in his back. Luckily enough, the Commander seemed to be more confused than angry about the behavior of his scientist and whatever had triggered said weird behavior in the first place, and his next words made Evan's stomach flutter again.

“I'd rather talk to you personally than via video transmission, Major Lorne. Only if you wouldn't mind, of course.”

“I don't mind at all, Commander. Do you want to come to Atlantis with a Dart, or would you prefer that I come to your Hive with one of our Jumpers?” the young major asked, and he could only hope that his excitement about finally meeting the fascinating Commander personally wasn't showing too visibly on his face and in his eyes.

“You're on duty as it would seem, so it would be appropriate that I come to Atlantis. There's no need to disturb any of your subordinates and rouse them from their well-deserved sleep to make them overtake your shift for you, Major.”

Evan nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Of course, Commander, that's very considerate of you. I'll wait for you on the landing pier, then.”

“Thank you, Major. I should arrive in a few minutes.” The Wraith ended the call, and Chuck did the same, gazing worriedly at Sheppard's XO.

“What did he mean when he said that his scientist is behaving strangely?” Chuck asked him, but Evan didn't know anything more than the other man did.

“I'll find that out soon enough, I guess. Contact me via radio in case there's something you can't handle yourself, Chuck. I'll take a walk on the piers with the Commander, and I won't need any guards following us. I'm positive that he won't try to harm me, and I want to respect his wish to keep our talk confidentially if that'll be possible.”

“Yes, Sir.” Chuck said, looking worried, but he swallowed down his protest and simply nodded his head with a resigned noise, and Evan headed for the next transporter to go to the landing pier where he would soon meet the Commander; which was something he was secretly very much looking forward too despite of his worries about what McKay had done again to make any Wraith behave 'strangely' – whatever this 'strangely' actually meant and implied.

*~*~*

The Dart landed with the quiet but high-pitched noise Evan had learned to hate and fear long before the mere thought of a true alliance with any Wraith faction had occurred on the horizon, and he was surprised how little the interruption of the peaceful silence actually disturbed him this time.

His lonely figure was a dark shadow against the shimmering silver-gray towers of the sleeping city, his posture straight and stiff with both nervousness and anticipation, and Evan secretly rubbed his sweaty palms against his BDUs before clasping his hands behind his back and straightening his shoulders even more to appear taller than he was.

The hatch opened with another quiet hiss after a moment or two, and the Commander climbed out of his vessel with the natural grace each Wraith seemed to possess.

He was an even more impressive sight standing right in person and so close to Evan all of a sudden, his long black coat swinging around his legs as he strode towards him with the natural self-confidence of an almost invincible predator.

Evan drew in a deep breath and dug his nails into his palms to keep his suddenly over-boarding emotions at bay.

The Wraith came to a halt a few inches before him, inclining his head to a small but respectful bow.

“I am more than pleased to finally make your acquaintance, Major Lorne,” he said, and all nervousness left Evan again when he looked into the Commander's green-golden eyes for the first time – well, for the first time without a screen between them.

The Wraith's eyes were beautiful, more the eyes of a cat than those of a reptile, and their expression was warm and curious and not the least hostile or threatening. His pale-bluish face was illuminated by the moonlight, and his long white hair was cascading over his back without any restraint tonight. The small goatee with the two tips accentuated his alien male features and drew attention to his prominent chin and jawline - and to his lips, which were curled into a soothing smile to show his friendly intentions. His expression was almost soft, a word the young major would never have used in the same sentence with any Wraith before tonight. But here he was, thinking that the Commander was looking at him with a soft smile, and Evan realized that he'd never felt so safe in the presence of any other person he'd just met, except for his parents when he'd been a small child perhaps. He untangled his fingers to reach out with his right hand and offer it to the alien male without thinking twice about what he was actually doing, and with a smile of his own that made his own blue eyes sparkle.

“I feel the same way, Commander,” he said, and the Wraith gazed down at his proffered hand for a moment before he stretched out his feeding hand to enclose Evan's fingers with his own, slowly and very carefully. The young major wondered briefly when he'd actually stopped looking at a Wraith's feeding hand with horror contorting his features, but he didn't feel scared or uncomfortable in any way, just curious and excited.

His new acquaintance was such a remarkable and striking presence, and Evan's gaze wandered upwards to the elegant black lines of the Commander's facial tattoo. It looked even more like a fierce dragon from this close, and Evan's fingers itched with the painful urge to capture it with his pencil and make the dragon come to life.

The strong image of a real mighty and fearsome dragon appeared before his mind's eye all of a sudden, merciless to its enemies, but protective and kind to those the dragon truly cared about. The dragon in Evan's head was not black, brown or gray like most dragons he'd seen so far, and the huge creature wasn't red or even golden like the dragons of some fairy tales either. Its scales and wings were of a blinding silver-white color that shone brightly in the sunlight and sparkled like precious diamonds in the light of the stars and the moon at night. The dragon looked at him with green-golden eyes, letting out a sound that was almost a purr when Evan tried to reach out and touch it, and the young major blinked and shook his head to clear his dazed mind and focus on his late visitor again, feeling confused and excited at the same time – as if something important had just happened to both of them, something that would tie both of their fates together for all of the time.

Evan swallowed and blinked again, looking back up into the Commander's eyes, and the Wraith looked down at him with a wondrous expression on his striking features, just as if he was sharing Evan's feelings in a strange and mysterious way and felt the same mysterious bond forming between them just like he himself did.

They gazed at each other, the tall Wraith and the smaller human, and there was already such a strong connection between them, that Evan felt as though they knew each other for a very long time.

The young major cleared his throat, and a soft shiver ran down on his back when he realized that the Commander was still holding his hand, their fingers interwoven and curled around each other in a way only lovers would usually hold hands. He drew his right hand back with regret tightening his throat, but he really wasn't a teenager anymore who was standing face to face with his secret crush for the first time, and he'd better go back to business and find out what the Commander had meant when he'd said that his scientist was behaving strangely.

“Shall we take a walk on the piers, Commander?” he asked, his voice rough because of his inner turmoil, but if the Wraith noticed his confusion, then he was polite enough not to mention it and simply tilted his head in agreement.

“Whatever you'll be most comfortable with, Major Lorne. Atlantis is your Hive as long as Colonel Sheppard is with my High Commander to learn more about us and our culture and to strengthen our new bond, and I will be fine with every decision you'll make to ensure the safety and well-being of your city and your charges.”

Evan pursed his lips in thoughtful surprise. “No one has ever compared Atlantis with a Wraith Hive, but thinking more closely about it, it's most likely a pretty accurate description.”

“Of course, Major. Atlantis is sentient like our Hives, and your expedition team – who we call the New Lanteans – are your brothers and sisters and share the same Hive mind like Wraith crews usually do. That most of you don't have any telepathic skills actually doesn't change much about that. You have grown close together over the years, considering each other as family, and you're willing to risk your lives for one another and striving to reach the same goals – just like we are doing. There's actually not that much differences between you and us, and we should finally start focusing on our similarities instead of mulling over the things that are separating us, don't you agree with me, Major Lorne?”

The Commander looked questioningly at him, and Evan nodded his head. “Yes, we should do that, Commander. If we really want to overcome our mistrust towards each other, leave our fears and hate behind, then acknowledging that we might have more in common than we have not would be the first step in the right direction.”

Evan beckoned the Wraith to follow him along the piers, and for a few minutes they were walking side by side without talking, the silence surrounding them calming Evan's inner turmoil down again and slowing his breathing considerably. His late night visitor seemed to be lost in his own thoughts when Evan glanced at him from the side, looking into the distance with vacant eyes, and his figure started to blur right before Evan's eyes as he observed him attentively, changing and whirling until he could see the beautiful and mighty silver-white dragon again.

The normally so dangerous creature was watching him silently and with expectant green-golden eyes, crouching down before Evan's feet and bending its head in a gesture of utter devotion and trust. There were words forming in his mind, words of an ancient language he couldn't understand, a low and soft rumbling, and he realized with astonishment that the dragon was talking to him.

He reached out and let his fingers glide over the shimmering white scales, and the dragon let out a growl, but it was a friendly sound that didn't scare the young man.

 _'Do you want me to fly with you, dragon?'_ the picture of himself he could see in his vision asked, and the dragon growled again and spread its huge wings invitingly. The Evan in his vision climbed onto the broad silver-white back of the powerful creature, and the dragon took off with a triumphant roar, spiraling itself into the dark sky with its human rider until they were only a tiny white dot anymore, and Evan came back to reality with a startled gasp.

He blinked several times, and when his vision cleared again, his found the Commander standing close to him, his clawed off-hand a heavy weight on his shoulder to offer comfort and support.

“Is everything alright with you, Major Lorne?” he asked, his multi-toned voice filled with concern about the well-being of his human host.

“I'm fine, don't worry,” Evan croaked out, “and please call me Evan, just Evan. We're alone, and I would prefer it if you called me by my name, my real name, I mean.” Evan was shocked about his own boldness, and he could only hope that the tall Wraith Commander wouldn't mind his inappropriate behavior, but if anything, then his counterpart looked more surprised and perhaps even flattered, and not the least angry or deterred.

“Your real name?” the Commander just asked, “is Major Lorne not your real name?” He sounded slightly confused, but also curious and intrigued, and Evan was all too happy to explain the meaning and importance of human names to him, even though this was not the Wraith had come for to Atlantis.

“'Major' is not my name, but my military rank, and of course it's real and the correct formal addressing. But I have not always been a major, and I had to earn my promotions from the lowest rank upwards to the rank of a major when I joined the Earth military forces, just like you most certainly haven't always been a Commander right from the beginning – that's at least what I assume.”

“You assume correctly, Maj... Evan.” The Commander inclined his head, gazing at him encouragingly.

“So 'major' is just a temporary addressing, as my rank has changed several times in the past and will change in the future again – hopefully.” Evan gifted the Wraith with one of his dimpled smiles, and to his joy, the Commander smiled back at him.

“I understand what you're trying to tell me, Evan. But what about Lorne? It is your surname, isn't it? So this name does belong to you, doesn't it?”

Evan chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in a rather helpless gesture. “It's actually quite difficult with human names. You're right that Lorne is my surname and that this name has belonged to me since I was born, but if I were to marry someone who wouldn't want to give up their surname for any reason, I would at least consider to accept their surname as my new surname as well and change mine into the new one. Women have taken the surname of their husbands after their weddings for centuries, and it's still a customary habit on Earth. It's also a fact that men have started to take the surname of their wives on a more regular basis over the last few decades as well though, so as you can see, 'Lorne' is my surname, but a name I could give up for good reasons and change it into another one without really losing my true identity.”

“I see.” The Commander said after a moment, “so you identify yourself just as 'Evan', then?”

“It's the best thing I have to identify myself in front of others. Evan is the name my parents gifted me with right after I was born, and I will definitely never change my birth name. But it's not the only thing I identify myself by, at least not in my own personal view about myself. I'm more than Evan, the son of my parents.

I'm a soldier and major, subordinate to my CO Colonel Sheppard and the Stargate Command on Earth, superior to my Marines. I'm a geologist with passion, and I wanted to be a geologist before I wanted to become a soldier. Unfortunately, I can hardly go on missions which would give me the opportunity to work as a geologist any longer, but each time I'll get the chance, I'll gladly take up on it, and the scientist in me wakes up each time I see a geologic formation that fascinates me.

Colonel Sheppard has actually reprimanded me more than once for 'wasting my time with dead rocks' when we were on a new planet together, but he wants his charges to be happy, so he'll always give in to my requests if it's safe enough to stay for a while longer and explore the geology of the worlds we're visiting.

I'm also a painter. Perhaps I can even call myself a real artist like my mother, I at least hope so. Colors are my life, to me they're so much more than just colors. They're feelings, moods, and sometimes they're even touches and sounds, smells and tastes – if that makes any sense to you.

The colors of a sunset for example, colorful flowers on a meadow, the juicy fruits hanging from a tree – or the reddish, yellow and grayish rocky mountains of a new world up against the blue sky. The many shades of green of a forest and the various blues and grays of the sea.

Each time I see these things and their unique colors, all I want to do is paint them, capture them with my pencils and my brushes on my canvas. Maybe I could live happily without being a geologist and a soldier, but I could never be happy without my colors, my pencils, my brushes and my notepads and canvas.”

Evan went silent when he realized what he was just doing, and he felt heat crawl into his cheeks.

“I'm sorry, Commander. I've let myself be carried away – I shouldn't bother you with my personal stuff.”

The Wraith glanced at him with a strange expression, and if Evan didn't know it better, then he would have called his expression rapturous. But it couldn't be that such a remarkable and powerful being like an immortal Wraith Commander felt intrigued by the stupid things he'd just revealed about himself, right? He was just a weak human, but his alien counterpart made him feel as if he was the most important being in the universe, and his voice sounded a little bit rough when he said:

“Please, go on, Evan. I do not feel bothered in any way. On the contrary, I find it fascinating what you're telling me about yourself. What you're describing is what we would call your 'mind-print', the very essence of you what makes you unique and special to others – and what we Wraith transfer to our brethren and other telepaths when we're communicating mentally.

Wraith don't have 'names' like you do – as a single name would never do our personalities any justice – but I do understand why non-telepaths need such names to identify themselves. If we could connect our minds, I would 'see' all of what you've just told me about yourself – the unique combination of your personality, your skills, abilities, thoughts and feelings – the things that make you be 'you'.

It's hard to explain, you would have to experience it yourself to truly understand it, but your explanation how you view yourself is a rather accurate description of what I would recognize as your unique mind-print if we were mentally bonded.”

“Oh.” Evan swallowed, and his heart was beating hard and fast in his chest – whether it was out of fear, or rather excitement – this was hard to tell and nothing he wanted to think about more closely.

“Now I have made you feel uncomfortable,” the Commander regretted, and Evan hurried to shake his head.

“No, you didn't, Commander, not the least, I just didn't expect that I've just described what you call the mind-print of a person. I was merely trying to tell you a little bit more about myself,” the young major said, but he couldn't help but feel flattered and happy that the fascinating Wraith was intrigued by what he could tell him about himself.

“So I am a painter with all my heart, and I am a son and a brother to my sister. I am a brother-in-law to my sister's husband, the uncle to her sons, and I hope that I am also a good friend and colleague and that I have what people would call a caring nature...”

His voice trailed off, and the intense look out of green-golden eyes made a shiver run down on his back.

“Are you also a husband or lover, Evan?” the Commander asked quietly, standing so close to him on the dark pier where they had stopped sometime ago that Evan could smell his natural fragrance, a mixture of herbal musk and something earthy, strange but not unpleasant, as the Wraith's scent was actually pretty appealing to him.

“No, I am not. I'm not a husband or lover, and I haven't found the one I would want to spend the rest of my life with yet,” he almost whispered, and the silence following his words was heavy and loaded with unspoken feelings, ringing loudly in his ears. He realized that it wasn't quite the truth, though, not any longer, and the white dragon flashed before his mind's eye again, looking at him and whispering to him in that ancient language he couldn't understand.

The Commander said nothing for a very long time, and Evan felt like drowning in his gaze, the colors whirling around until he got the feeling that he was looking straight into the flames of a blazing fire - dragon fire.

The image was gone before he could be sure that his impression had been right, and he felt cold all of a sudden when the Wraith took a small step back and his expression changed, closing up and locking Evan out, just as though he desperately wanted to bring some distance between them again. Whether it was for Evan's sake – or more his own, this was hard to tell.

Now he was just the controlled and strict Commander again, not Evan's fierce silver-white dragon, and the young major felt bereft of something precious, but he schooled his own features back into a mask of friendly professionalism and straightened his shoulders with something akin to grim defiance.

“You wanted to talk to me about your scientist, Commander?” he asked, and the Wraith frowned as he remembered the actual reason for his late visit, and then he nodded his head with a small sound of regret or anger of himself that he had allowed himself to get so distracted.

“Yes, indeed... Major Lorne,” he replied, and Evan didn't correct him and asked him to call him by his birth name this time.

“My scientist came back to our Hive and uttered a rather weird wish,” the Commander started to explain, “he insisted on spending the whole time in one of our now empty cocoons until he would go back to Atlantis again. We're not using them any longer, but they're still there as we didn't have time to remove them so far, and he was so persistent that I finally had to give in and have him brought to the cocoons by two drones. Can you perhaps enlighten me and tell me what this is all about, Major Lorne?”

Evan stared at the tall Wraith with his mouth hanging open for a moment, snapping it shut again when he realized how he must look like.

“He did what?!” he managed to bring out at last, and the Commander grimly nodded his head.

“He did not only want to spend several hours trapped in a cocoon, but he also asked to be guarded by the drones and be locked out from our Hive mind for this time, treated like a prisoner and not like my head scientist and valued member of my Hive.”

The Commander gazed down at Evan, and the major wanted to roll his eyes and groan in despair.

“McKay, what the heck did you do this time again?” he murmured to himself before he let out a deep sigh and met the unreadable glance out of green-golden cat's eyes – dragon's eyes – with more confidence than he was actually feeling in this moment.

“Dr. McKay was once trapped in a Wraith cocoon for several hours, together with Ronon Dex. It was a traumatizing experience for him, and he's never really gotten over it. It's likely that he told your scientist about his experience, I guess,” he said, hoping that the Commander would accept his words and not draw any consequences out of McKay's rude behavior towards his own head scientist.

“I see. This would indeed explain the wish of my scientist to experience for himself what Dr. McKay went through on board a Hive.” The Commander luckily sounded more surprised and thoughtful than angry. “I must admit that we have never taken into consideration until now how such traumas and terrifying experiences would still affect your people and therefore also an alliance between us.”

“We're not all like Dr. McKay, Commander, and not all of us have gone through the same.” Evan assured him, and the Wraith smiled briefly at him.

“Which is essential if our alliance shall truly work out. I know that, and I am grateful for your willingness to trust us and give this alliance a real chance, Evan. But some of you did make such experiences, and we must make amends and try to gain the trust of those who are still thinking of us as monsters for rather good reasons as I have to admit – like Dr. McKay for example.”

“I don't think that Dr. McKay considers you as 'monsters', Commander. He hasn't been his usual self lately because of some personal problems, and he's worried about Colonel Sheppard's long absence, which is understandable as they are really close friends. But your scientist was more than cooperative and not the least scary or anything like that, but really patient and willing to go beyond his own limits for Dr. McKay's sake.” Evan tried to comfort his visitor, and the Commander released some of the tension that had stiffened his shoulders.

“I'm relieved to hear that. Even more as my scientist told me that Dr. McKay has given him a name – a name that was apparently more meant as an insult than as a way to make things easier for both of our people as far as he could tell from Dr. McKay's behavior...”

The Commander glanced at him, and Evan couldn't suppress his pained groan this time.

“What kind of name are you talking about, Commander?” he asked with growing concern, remembering how eager McKay had been to be allowed to choose a name for a Wraith for a long time – and how disappointed he'd always been when Sheppard had thwarted his attempts again and again.

“Amadeus. Do you happen to know why this name would be an insult, Major Lorne?”

Evan really wanted to shake Rodney until the stubborn blue-eyed genius would see reason again.

“Amadeus?!” he groaned, “he really named your scientist Amadeus?”

“Yes, he did, Major. So this name has indeed an insulting character?” The Commander's voice was impassive, but Evan could sense trouble and danger ahead. After their talk about names and mind-prints a few minutes earlier, he could see why it would cause serious discrepancies between Atlantis and Todd's Hives if one of his Wraith was called by a truly offending human name.

“No, it hasn't, not the least. On the contrary, 'Amadeus' is the name of one of Earth's most famous and appreciated composers ever. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a so-called prodigy, a child genius and highly talented composer and musician. He had several birth names actually, but 'Wolfgang Amadeus' were the two birth names he was usually addressed with. Amadeus is an ancient name with a long tradition and actually very honorable and special. You don't need to worry that this name will disgrace your scientist in any way, and millions of people on Earth – and quite a lot of us here in Atlantis – really love the music Mozart has composed so long ago – me included.”

“I see. But why would my scientist think that Dr. McKay chose this name to insult him, then?” the Commander sounded truly confused now, and Evan shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture.

“I'm not sure, and I don't think that even Colonel Sheppard could give you a satisfying answer to this question. I know that music was Dr. McKay's first love, he wanted to become a famous pianist before he decided that a scientist would be more suitable for him. Something must have happened that made him change his mind about his wish to become a musician, and maybe Mozart's music had something to do with that.

But one thing I can tell you for sure: That Dr. McKay chose a name for your scientist, the honorable and good name of a genius composer even, means that he values and appreciates your scientist as his new co-worker. The fact that it's the name of a composer he himself doesn't like that much doesn't change his honorable intentions in any way. He might not like Mozart's music, but Dr. McKay is generous and fair enough to acknowledge another genius mind, and he would never deny Mozart his genius, so your scientist must have impressed him with his own skills pretty much. If he'd really think of your scientist as a terrifying monster, then he would never have thought of giving him a name in the first place. He's just too stubborn to admit that he's come to value him, and he tried to convince himself that he doesn't by choosing a name everyone here in Atlantis will find honorable and beautiful except for himself and his secret reasons for his dis-liking of this name.”

“I see.” The Commander said slowly, looking gratefully at him. “Thank you, Evan. You've eased my mind considerably. I was surprised and even angry that my scientist decided to accept a name that was meant as an insult in the first place, and I tried to convince him that he should reconsider his decision. But he refused to do so, and I should better get used to calling him Amadeus in the future as well, I think. Maybe he actually sensed the same reasons behind Dr. McKay's choice of a name just like you did and wanted to prove to him that Wraith can be true allies and accept humans as equal partners in such an alliance, even if it means that we'll have to make compromises about things we would never give a second thought under different circumstances.”

“I would think so, too. Your scientist is a remarkable individual and ally, and Dr. McKay is not as subtle as he thinks that he is most of the time,” Evan said with a weak smile, grateful that the Commander had accepted his explanation and didn't feel the need to demand any consequences for McKay regarding his stupid behavior towards his new Wraith colleague.

“You're not like any human I've ever met, Evan,” the Commander said quietly, “you're showing an astonishing amount of cooperation and understanding for my race, and I can sense that you're not afraid of me like most humans would be, regardless of how much I would actually try not to be scary or intimidating. You're the first human who is not just treating me like a monster or a feared and lethal enemy that must be killed at all costs. No other human has ever treated me like a sentient and intelligent being that has the same right to live as their own people have in their opinion so far, but you do. Our worshipers of course do that as well, but in their opinions we are superiors, their queens and lords and sometimes even some kind of gods. You are treating me like a trustworthy and valued equal partner, which is really something new to me, and I want to thank you for that.”

Evan felt his cheeks warming up, but he returned the attentive gaze out of green-golden eyes openly.

“I don't feel frightened in your presence, Commander. The opposite is true, I've hardly ever felt as safe and sound as I feel standing here next to you. Maybe I would feel differently if I'd made the same experiences as Dr. McKay did, but I'm a soldier, and I know what humans are capable of. It would be far too simple to just call you the bad guys any longer, and I don't see a monster when I look at you, not the least.

At the beginning, when we started our first explorations of other worlds through the Stargate, we thought that the mysterious Ancients were some kind of holy saints, the paragon of nobleness and perfection. They weren't as we've come to realize over the years, and I've always tried to keep an open mind and be able to see things through the eyes of other people and accept their differences and different opinions. You have given me no reason to doubt your friendly intentions, quite the opposite. You're treating me like an equal partner, too, and I feel that I can really trust you, Commander.”

“You can, Evan.” The Commander stood close to him once more, and Evan's eyes wandered to his tattoo again. The dragon seemed to turn its stylized head and look at him with glowing eyes, and the tongue that could also be a flame seemed to be dancing over the prominent brow-ridge of its owner as he focused his gaze on it. Evan watched it with rapt devotion, and he flinched slightly when the multi-toned voice next to his ear interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality again.

“Please tell me Evan, if I asked you to give me a name to make it easier for you and your people to differentiate me and my brethren, what kind of name would you choose for me? Would this name have a special meaning to you, as well?”

The young major blinked, staring at the Wraith in speechless surprise, and the heavy and thorough silence following the Commander's request was only broken by Evan's hammering heartbeat.

**Author's Note:**

> Kind feedback, kudos and comments would be so lovely and encouraging! <33

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Fanart for 'The Sound of Silence'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523809) by [picturae (Eos_x)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eos_x/pseuds/picturae)




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